The invention is in the field of the further processing of printed products and pertains to a covering sheet according to the introductory portion of the first independent claim. The main function of the covering sheet is to bring together the printed product, which is, in particular, a newspaper or magazine with diverse supplements (e.g. further newspapers or magazines, prospectuses, brochures, CDs or other data carriers, sample objects) to form a unit, which is suitable for distribution, i.e. simple to handle. The invention additionally pertains to a method for wrapping newspapers or magazines by means of covering sheets.
The individual wrapping for distribution in particular of magazines possibly with supplements by means of an at least partly transparent plastic film and to seal the film around the newspaper is known. Thus a magazine ready for distribution is created, which is firstly protected from outside influences, in particular moisture and secondly guarantees that the magazine stays in new condition, which thirdly due to its transparency maintains the visibility of the magazine including promotional printing on its outside and which fourthly combines the magazine and supplements, which are inserted into or loosely added to the magazine to form a more or less stable and simply handlable unit. Printed products wrapped in this manner have become widely established, particularly where they are distributed by mail and are increasingly common, where the reader purchases them directly form the distributor (e.g. newsstand). It has also been suggested to offer daily newspapers wrapped in the named manner.
The named transparent plastic wrapping on the other hand has the disadvantage that it, as soon as the printed product has reached the reader, must be disposed of as waste and that the wrapping, by enclosure in plastic foil and sealing, is extremely time- and space-consuming. As known devices for wrapping normally have very restricted capacity, it is necessary to provide a plurality of wrapping devices operating in parallel for the on-line processing of e.g. the products ejected from a rotary printing press. These wrapping devices, together with the necessary means for their feeding, for subdivision of the stream of printed products laid out by the rotation, and the also necessary means for reuniting the branched streams represent considerable investment and require a large amount of space.
In publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,476, EP-0019606 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,687 it is suggested to improve the handlability of magazines by affixing at least one adhesive strip on the front cover, tensing it over an open magazine edge and then affixing it to the back cover. These adhesive strips hold together the magazine and, if applicable, supplements inserted therein in a unit, however, are in no way capable of protecting these when used without covering sheet.
In publication EP-0676354, it is also suggested to provide printed products such as e.g. magazines with a folded covering sheet and to seal this sheet in a suitable manner, such that again a unit suitable for distribution is created and the printed product is additionally protected, at least to a restricted degree. The covering sheet e.g. comprises a pre-fold, which, for the sealing, is applied to the edge of the magazine and is affixed on the opposite side, e.g. by means of gluing. The advantage of wrapping methods with the aid of covering sheets is that for wrapping, the same devices may be used as for the compiling of the printed product to be wrapped (e.g. device for inserting or collecting of printed product parts or of printed product and supplements), without having to substantially extend or adapt these devices for the additional functions. Known devices for the named processing steps also comprise capacities, which are sufficient for on-line processing of a stream of printed products laid out by a rotation, without subdivision. Like the plastic film, the covering sheet is also an object, which must be supplied in addition to the printed product and which, directly after delivery, must be disposed of in suitable manner by the recipient. Furthermore, compared to the plastic film, the covering sheet exhibits the disadvantage, that it is normally not transparent and thus would have to, if applicable, be printed on correspondingly for identification of the printed product.